Rochdale Child Sex Accused Denies charges

A Rochdale man accused of having sex with underage girls, as part of a child exploitation ring has denied the charges.

43 year old Abdul Rauf, said his accuser held a grudge against him because he would not let her smoke in his taxi.

Rauf and 10 other men are on trial at Liverpool Crown Court charged with conspiring to engage children in sexual activity.

The five alleged victims, aged between 13 and 15 and from the Rochdale area of Greater Manchester, were given alcohol, food and money in return for sex, the prosecution alleges.

Giving evidence on Tuesday, married father-of-five Rauf told the jury he arrived in Rochdale from Pakistan in 1993. After he married and his family grew, he took on extra jobs as a factory worker and takeaway delivery driver.

It was while working as a taxi driver that he came into contact with the girls, he said.

One of the alleged victims has claimed she had sex with Rauf, “10, 20, 30, times”, the court heard. Asked by Zarif Khan, defending, if that was true, Rauf told the court: “No, no. That's not true. I never had sex with her.”

Questioned further, Rauf described the girl as “naughty” and said she started racially abusing him after he told her not to smoke when she was a passenger in his taxi.

He broke down in tears describing the incident and said: “I tried to stop her smoking because it is against the law. A taxi is a workplace and I would get fined £1,000. She said 'F*** you and f*** your law'. She swore at me, saying 'you're Bin Laden' and a 'f****** Paki'.”

After the incident, Rauf told the court the girl continued to racially abuse him when she saw him in the street or at the local park with his wife and children. ``She never forgot what happened,'' he said.